//------------------------------// // Chapter 26: That Which was Lost - Part 1 // Story: Metro: Retribution // by RF and AG //------------------------------// The ruins of Alfasia were much like the Metro tunnels, dark, unstable, and the last resting place for many. It is the first place that feels natural to me. It makes me miss home. That Which Was Lost (Part 1) Perspective: Artyom         The descent to the bottom of the chasm was slow-going at best, the main problem being Scowly and his lack of opposable thumbs. It meant he had to utilise his magic in its entirety to move from ledge to ledge while I utilised a rope system. It wasn’t the safest, there was no doubt in that, but there was little else I could do. I needed to know what was hiding in these ruins, no matter the cost. Each section we moved to and from got us a little closer to the ancient structures I could glimpse at the bottom, but at the same time, it put us in more danger. The ledges for me to grasp and for Shining to move to were beginning to get smaller and smaller, some having hardly enough room for even one of us to stand on. And yet it seemed that with each meter we progressed downward, the chasm added three more to its depth. There was no way we could continue like this, and knowing what I knew of this world, there was a chance that the chasm was indeed messing with us. Khan would have had a field day with it. Yet I noticed something as we descended; sticking out from the stone walls of the gorge were what appeared to be columns of houses, as though they had been swallowed up by the earth long before the gorge had sunk the rest of the city. So I took a leap of faith, and trusted that whatever ancient city this was, had multi-story buildings. One specific ledge looked like it had a sealed off door or a weak wall of some sorts, the cracks running across it looking thinner than the rest of the canyon. “Shining, blast that wall,” I said as I pointed towards the specific spot. He couldn’t exactly see it from his angle but he nodded tiredly, panting slightly from the amount of teleportations. His horn lit up before he appeared on the other side of the canyon, on a ledge that gave him the perfect view to do as I requested. Without even taking the time to charge up a spell, the air cracked slightly as what could only be described as a concussive bolt shot into the wall, crumbling it just as I predicted. Without any further pause, I swung myself into the opening before beckoning Shining over. He nodded before firing up his teleportation spell again. So no real surprise when he reappeared next to me, almost collapsing from exhaustion, the rope also falling down to pool along the ledge. He must have untied me as he teleported. “You will be fine,” I said as I patted him on his head, like a dog, and I admit I was laughing slightly inside. Sure he was becoming a good friend, but that doesn’t forgive the actions he took earlier. He still had a little way to go before we were alright, I wasn’t as easy to toss out my opinions of him as Anna was with me. The thought of Anna brought back still fresh memories of what we were, of what I had waiting for me when I got back; not if. I would return, I would see Anna again, and I would put everything I could into making the Metro a better place to live. For me, and for her. I shook my head and stared at the hallway before me that clung onto the dark shadows of the ancient structure. I needed to focus on what was happening, on what I wanted to happen or what I had happened. As Khan had once told me, the future is of no consequence if you cannot survive the present. I looked back at the still panting Shining Armor. I shook my head and sighed, I couldn’t just leave him behind … he was too valuable to me and I admit that he was slowly becoming my only friend in this weird world. I decided that we could take the time to wait for him to be ready, I would take stock of my filters in the meantime. I removed my current filter to check how the air quality was down in the canyon, away from any true plant life. The first few breaths caused me to cough slightly, but eventually I got used to the tougher breathing; it still wasn’t as bad as taking off my filter on the Moscow surface. I decided not to put the filter back on, instead letting myself breathe in the slightly toxic air. If I felt any adverse effects, I always had access to my filters and to a unicorn that probably knew some decent healing spells. That’s assuming those were a thing, mind you. Eventually Shining stood on still slightly shaky legs, his breathing finally steadying out into an even breathing pattern. He looked up at me just as i glanced over at him. Apparently he was in little mood for talking as he just nodded his head, which meant he was ready to continue. “Same rules as in Crystal Cave, you follow my orders,” I stated, to which he nodded in agreement but I could tell that it hurt his pride to easily accept such an agreement for the second time. Still, he was ready to go and with that we took our first true steps into the ruins of Alfasia. I flipped my flashlight on, not even bothering to try and see in the darkness. I had good eyesight but that didn’t mean there wasn’t something in here that had better eyesight than me. It was better to be safe than dead … a more than common saying in the Metro. I glanced around at the now illuminated walls and I must admit I was disappointed, for there were no decorations whatsoever, just a hallway barely tall enough for me that held a light brown tinge to it … it almost looked like sand but packed tightly into small bricks. It definitely wasn’t the stone or steel structures of the Metro, nor the crystalline looks of the Crystal Castle. This made me curious as to just how old the ruins were; neither Khan nor the book said anything in specific as to the dating of the ruins. I let out a grunt of annoyance as we rounded the only corner of the hallway and came to another hallway, what a surprise. At least it wasn’t stairs yet. I could deal without those appearing for as long as possible. It was odd to think that this building had a single corridor yet there appeared to be no rooms that had access to said corridor. Whatever this building used to be, it wasn’t something as normal as the ones I’d seen up to that point. Each step we took down the hall was shaky at best due to not wanting to accept that the ruins were stable enough to hold both of our weight. It was slow going for the most part, but eventually we came to the same conclusion that if the floor was going to give way, it would have done it by then. As if to say ‘fuck you’ the floor under one of my steps gave way completely, the opening expanding faster than I could see as my body slammed into the remaining shards around the hole, allowing me to fall freely onto the hard flooring the next level down. By ‘allowing’ I mean dictating, since I had no choice in my actions. I groaned as I laid on the hard ground for a moment, my entire body aching from the short fall. Shining’s voice came down from above, “are you alright?!” “Am I still in stone ruins in world of talking horses?” I groaned back. “Well not technically Equestria …” Shining trailed off, but still confirmed what I said. “Then I am not fine,” I muttered as I pushed myself up to a kneeling position, taking stock of the new floor I had fallen down to. It looked similar but up ahead of me was a vast opening into what was most likely a large dark room of some sort. I sighed before turning my head around to see where I came from, the light managing to actually show a decent portion of the hallway; including a set of stairs at the end of it. There was a part of me that wanted to fist pump at the fact I had skipped the stairs all together, but at the same time the shortcut I took was through falling … I forewent the fist pumping for the meantime. Shining’s hooves clopped along the ground as he descended the stairs. He had a slightly worried look on his face but I waved him off as he approached. “I am fine. Not first time I have fell.” He frowned in response but didn’t say anything in response. He was either actually concerned about me or he was trying to seem like he was. Tough to tell, some of these ponies have good poker faces, possibly even better than mine and I had a helmet to help me. Either way, I simply mentally shrugged it off before finally rising to my feet and dusting myself off. I looked down and realised just how lucky we were in the Metro. Back home there was hardly an accumulation of dust and dirt compared to what it was like in these ruins. Sure there was rubble and caved in areas but in new paths that had long since been tread? They were clean compared to how much dirt, and what looked like sand, I was once kneeling in. I did a quick inspection of my gear to make sure nothing was damaged, and from what I could see, there was nothing to worry about, but I’d have to take some time later to fully inspect. I gestured to Shining to continue following, though I drew my Saiga, not wanting to risk there being some creature strong enough to shrug off my VSV. If there was anything like that Crystal Giant in this place, it wouldn’t matter … still better to be prepared the best I could be. When we reached the room, I was immediately struck by a sight I didn’t think was possible; the light from my flashlight was seemingly eaten by the darkness. I tapped on the light source before checking my charge, which was full, before looking at the darkness once more. I shivered the longer I looked at it … the air and lack of light felt … unnatural, as though it was artificially created or something. I was hesitant to continue when I noticed this, not sure if my flashlight would help at all for it seemed to just disappear into the darkness ahead of us. It had worked so far, but the light felt weaker than it should have been with a full charge. “The dark feels … wrong,” I spoke slowly as I paused in my movement, Shining almost bumping into me at the sudden stop. There was a moment of silence before I saw the glow of his horn against the ground and the darkness. Despite Shining adding his own light source to my flashlight’s, the darkness ate up the light like it was Uhlman going at a pack of smokes; quick and painless. Both of us were quiet before Scowly’s voice broke the terse moment. “There is magic shrouding this place … I think I might be able to dispel it but it might take a while. I’m not as good as my sister when it comes to alteration and illusion.” I simply nodded before gazing around the room, or at least into the blackness as if there was going to be a sudden change within seconds. Of course there was no noticeable change as I looked over to Shining, whose horn kept up its steady stream of light, though the colour was shifting tinges of violet every few moments. Something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye, snapping my head back into the darkness ahead of me, my eyes searching for the thing I had seen. There! Something was ahead, a small speck of light ahead of us that seemed to beckon for me to follow it, but I held firm, knowing that whatever it was, it was most likely the magic of this place trying to draw me into the depths of the blackness. I tore my eyes away from the pinprick of light, tightly closing them before reopening, hoping that the pinprick of light wasn’t there. When I opened them, there was no more blackness. Everything changed, the entire room had changed from the encompassing void to a bright room, filled with tables that held food platters on them. I spun my head around to the left and right, my eyes trying to understand what I wa seeing. Amongst the newly changed room, gryphons, what looked like dragons from the old tales although standing on two legs, and even ponies walked around chatting and conversing as though there wasn’t a care in the world, each of them dressed in some sort of gown. A party, I was … I was at a party. When had I gotten here … had I even arrived here? It was starting to become tough to think as I continued to take in what I was seeing. The walls around me were still sandstone in nature but carved into them were what appeared to be symbols; symbols that were lost on me entirely. Pillars of the stone rose from the floor to the left and right of me, reminding me of columns from some of the old buildings of … of … From where? It was on the tip of my tongue, yet I just couldn’t force the words out. It was where I was from, but that couldn’t be true, could it? Hadn’t … hadn’t I always been here? I felt a wing brush up against me, almost forcing me to turn my head to see who it was. I saw a bluish green dragon, it’s thick scales glimmering in the lighting of the room, a small smile on its face, and a dress wrapped around its body. She smiled at me before speaking, “Ahh, it’s good to see you again, dear-” The name never came, as though it was omitted from the sounds of the room. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as to why such a thing just was omitted from existence. Yet that didn’t stop her from continuing to speak. “It’s a wonderful party, isn’t it! They always know how to make sure that every being is content and welcomed, don’t they?” “They do, indeed,” my mouth flowing like it was possessed, speaking words that didn’t fit at all what I was thinking of trying to say; and once again the name was omitted entirely. Yet this time I didn’t feel as confused, my mind seemingly allowing it to happen as though it was completely natural. “Come! Let’s mingle and dance!” She said as she strode forward, turning to the side and reaching out a clawed hand. Her eyes shimmered with delight at whatever she wanted to do. I tore my gaze from her to the outstretched hand, my own slowly rising to meet and grasp hers. Yes, I wanted to dance as well. Then there was a mild buzzing, like a little insect hovering around my ear. I reached up to swat it away but there was nothing. I shook my head once more in confusion before looking back at the dragoness, but she was gone. The entire scene had come to a standstill, all the guests that were once mingling were now looking at me with faces full of shock and surprise. At first I was confused as to what was happening, why had everyone stopped their partying? Then I saw it, or rather him. Ahead of me, running at a relentless speed towards me was a white unicorn pony wearing some sort of armour and bags. His voice called out but I couldn’t hear a word he was saying. Yet the closer he got, the clearer his words were. “Artyom!” The voice spoke in what was a whisper at first. “Artyom!” Then a normal speaking level. “Artyom!” Finally a shout as though there was urgency. I blinked hard as the pony stopped in front of me, his magic tugged my hand forward, the sudden movement shattering the entirety of the ballroom. What had once been the scene of a feast was thus replaced with piles of dirt, cobwebs and encroaching darkness from the sides of the room. Finally my memory began to work as Shining pulled me forward, my legs finally responding as we ran forward, the room almost extending further and further ahead of us into infinity. No longer was Shining shouting as we raced forward, the darkness from the sides narrowing our corridor ahead of us. With a grunt, Shining’s horn grew brighter as the creeping miasma flinched in some sort of sentient shock. I didn’t think twice about pushing my legs harder as we raced towards the door at the end of the room, a brick piece somehow held by hinges that had forgotten that time had passed them by and stood standing as though waiting for use. With a grunt of effort I picked up Shining, the heavy lug giving an almost whiny sound of surprise before tossing him forward through the door, before I raced into it, spinning around to slam the door shut on the black miasma. I keeled backwards as the door stood still, blocking whatever that stuff was from getting through, my lungs burning from the sudden sprint. Scowly on the other hand found his breath quicker and moved over to me, his eyes staring at me accusingly. “What the buck?! Why were you just standing there?!” I didn’t say anything at first, my eyes too transfixed on the door, but as it refused to move at all, I tore them away and shifted them to Shining, my own mind trying to understand what I had seen. “Some sort of … vision or something … something from the past.” “What are you saying?” Shining replied simply, to which I looked at him in confusion as to why he didn’t understand me. Then I realised my mistake; whatever that blackness had done, it made me temporarily forget that Shining couldn’t understand Russian. “I said it was vision of past … or something. Like I was there,” I muttered in English, hardly believing it myself, but if I hadn’t have been saved by Scowly again I would have no doubt been dragged into whatever that was; almost like Pavel had been before I saved him on that plane … I sighed into my mask before standing up. Whatever this place was, there was no doubt that it had been the sight of something unnatural … only the tomb of countless lives could bring about such horrible changes in the very being of the place. It was Moscow all over again. “We’re lucky I was able to figure out a way to fight it back,” Shining muttered before glancing back at the shut door. “That magic wasn’t like anything I’ve ever seen, there is no way it was of this world.” I looked back at the door with him and silently agreed. Of course I wasn’t going to tell him that there was a chance that I had seen such ‘magic’ like that before. That was information for me and me alone. Yet the prospects of what it could mean caused a shiver to run up my spine. “So then, what now?” He asked, breaking my train of thought. I glanced down at him then back at the door once more. “We continue on. No other option,” I said with a somewhat weary sigh. It was but one vision and already I was tired of this place. If that was any indication of what was to come then I needed to steel myself mentally, for it would be a long trek to find my answers. Shining nodded his head cautiously, probably not sure if what he was agreeing to was correct. I’d seen such a look more than a few times, most of those that gave them ended up dead. Most people in the Metro ended up dead eventually … it wasn’t anything new to me. If I had anything to say about it, I would die only on my terms; I had done it once and there is no way I would go any other way. Resolute that what we were doing had to be done, I started down the hall again, the direct path this time allowing branching options into rooms that were sealed shut by doors that somehow still stood through the test of time and destruction. Truly whoever built this structure had built it to last longer than they themselves would be alive. Dust idly hung in the air, causing me to hold back more than a few coughs. No matter how long I had lived in the Metro, it was tough to stop the natural reaction to sucking in a mouthful of dust. I was just glad that the air in these ruins wasn’t choking me like the air outside would. A creaking echo sounded in the distance, coming from the direction we were walking, forcing me to halt our movement, wary of what could be lurking ahead of us. I stood still, my weapon sighted down the hall for what felt like a minute at best before slowly advancing, knowing that if it was something and not just the shifting of the buried building then it would be ahead of us no matter. Suffice to say, I put myself on high alert as of that moment. I couldn’t risk anything anymore; this building had already showed its teeth and what it was capable of doing. I couldn’t imagine what would happen if these depths held a creature that was just as capable if not more so. We continued on for roughly thirty more minutes, passing doorways still sealed shut, and some that had collapsed to instead be replaced by nothing but dirt. There were flights of stairs that had been worn away to nothing more than a somewhat smooth ramp, but Shining’s magic helped in those situations, somehow becoming solid enough to step on. All the while, both of us were quiet, not sure if speaking would awake something or not. The creaking of the building on occasion halted our advance more than it should have, but that was the price we had to pay for delving into ruins that were more ancient than either of us could probably imagine. Eventually we came to a dead stop with nothing but a door barring our path ahead. I glared at it as though it would disappear under my baleful gaze, but no such thing occurred, much to my annoyance. “Prepare for anything,” I said as I brought my shotgun to bear, and Shining levitating his Kalash into the air as well, having had it slung over his back the entire trip up to this point. Something I would have to remind him to never do in the future. I reached out for the handle, slowly grasping it before pushing. I half expected something to either leap forward as the door opened, or even some sort of foreign magic to make itself known, but instead another sight greeted me. A chasm. A large chasm about six meters across if my estimation was accurate. It seemingly cut off whatever was supposed to be after this door, as though the building had been split in half be a cutting tool of some sort. Yet whatever did this left the building jagged and uneven. Then I felt a breeze coming from above, a slightly choking breeze, which only caused me to sigh as I grabbed a filter for my mask. I was getting used to the breathable ancient air. Across the chasm was another door, but instead of a stone looking one, it was obvious that this door was made of nearly entirely degraded wood, yet somehow as if by luck itself, the door was still standing. At the foot of the door was maybe a quarter of a meter at best of ledge space which basically dictated my plan of movement. I paced back a little bit, at least the chasm’s width and a few meters, Shining’s brow furrowed in confusion as to why I was turning back. “I doubt there will be another way to get around it and I can’t teleport without some sort of idea of where I am going, or we could very well end up in the wall … I admit that I am not as good as my sister with such spells but that doesn’t … what are you … don’t do it!” His rambling gave me enough time to holster my weapon and get my running start. I prayed in the back of my head that my boots wouldn’t slip as I sprinted full force to the chasm, then at the last step I launched myself forward with all my might. With only a couple of meters cleared, I could tell what my outcome would be and braced my body as best as I could in midair before the sound of shattering wood and the stinging sensation of going right through the door burst upon me like flowing water against a stone. And before I knew it, my body slammed even harder against the stone surface, forcing my side and my shoulder to take the brunt of the force that even a slight roll on my part couldn’t stop. I was a Ranger though, I could take some discomfort if it meant getting my job and goal done. “Are you bucking insane?!” Shining shouted from the other doorway of the chasm, his face full of shock and what I wanted to say was awe. Obviously my actions took him by surprise, but I bet he didn’t realise that I could jump as far as I did. If only he could see the grin on my face, unfortunately that wasn’t possible as of the moment. I didn’t reply to him, instead just dusting my gear off before gesturing for him to follow me. He looked at me in shock once more before looking to his left and right for whatever reason. He wasn’t going to find another way across, so why he did so was beyond me. Honestly I just expected him to charge up his horn and simply teleport over here, but instead he backed up and prepared to leap over. I myself backed up more than a few steps in order to give him enough room to tumble after the leap. Though in the back of my mind there was a lingering thought that I would need to move quickly and pull him up if he missed. Thankfully that did not happen, for Shining’s gallop was fast enough and his legs powerful enough to easily propel him over the gap and even just skid to a stop instead of rolling like me. Damn those ponies and their horse-like qualities. He took a brief amount of time to stop panting from what I could only assume was adrenaline before he spun on me, his eyes practically glowing with intent to rip me a new one over what the fuck I did. I simply glared back at him in response, more than ready for him to do exactly what I could tell he wanted to do. He let out an exasperated grunt before turning around, intending to march off into the depths. He wavered though, knowing full well that this was my element, not his. He just nodded his head towards the depths, deciding to hold his tongue again. I smiled under my mask, now we were really getting down to brass tacks. There was no time for arguing over methods at this point. Without hesitation I continued our trek through the ancient halls, focusing once more on the task at hand. I paused at that thought … I didn’t know exactly what the task was. I restarted my legs and continued forward but my mind was still working its gears as I tried to determine what exactly I was looking for. Last time Khan and I talked, he gave me almost nothing to work with except this location. There was no mention of what I would find or the perils involved … what did I expect from Khan. I sighed hard as we slowly traced around a dusty corridor, a face full of cobwebs catching my mask. I quickly moved to wipe them off before looking around for any signs of spiderbugs. Sure this was a different world than my own, but at this point I was willing to bet that anything could have followed me over. Thankfully that was the only cobweb that was visible down the entirety of the hallway, and the lack of tunnels suggested that I didn’t have to worry about a single Spiderbug, just regular spiders. Though that begged one question … how were they surviving down here? There had to be some sort access point for insects from above to fly down. I shook my head and cleared that train of thought before it had a chance to take off. I needed to focus on where I was going, and what I was looking for. Another door slowly came into view under the gaze of my flashlight, which I took a moment to charge up once more. Now this door was just like the one that had helped us seal off the magic from that room, a thick slab of stone with still decent hinges from the looks of it. There was one massive difference with this door though; there was a faint sheen of light coming from underneath it. Not a flickering light of a flame or even an artificial light of a lightbulb, one I was all too familiar with. No, this light looked natural and constant, as though the building had a skylight and access to the world above. There was a nervous twinge of doubt in my mind, that it was just some sort of magic that was making it looking like this. I held the simplistic door handle before looking back at Shining who glowered at me before nodding his head, signalling he was ready. I pushed the door open with much of my might, the rusted hinges groaning in frustration at being used for the first time since the last instance they allowed visitors through. The sight that befell me was something almost awe-inspiring and confusing at the same time. I wasn’t stepping into a whole new room, I was stepping into an ancient cavern, one that in no way looked natural. The ‘ceiling’ had to be up at least a ten stories tall, the solid rock walls extending from the hand-cut stones of the building that it had swallowed. Yet when it reached the top there was an almost perfectly square cut opening, one that allowed the light of the day to enter and shine down on the rest of the area. I tore my gaze away from the skylight to quickly put a filter on for good measure before looking at the rest of the area. The massive cavern was larger then the one under the church back in Moscow, which meant it had to be almost half a kilometer long. Strewn about was ledges made of collapsed rock and what might have been grass of some sort laying on top of it. Cutting through the center was a small river that seemed to trickle at best through its little trench that had been cut from years of exposure. The walls of the cavern were nothing special, but the other side had the distinct features of another building. The entire scene was serene and conveyed a feeling of untouched beauty that rivaled anything I had ever seen. I was stunned at what I was seeing, and by the lack of sound beside me I take it that even Scowly saw the natural beauty in this place. Though when I looked over he was more focused on the skylight above us. I slowly took some steps from the sandstone flooring onto the natural rock and moss of the place. It crunched slightly under my boot but otherwise there was no issue, yet I still was hesitant. Too many times had I been ambushed based upon where I stood, there was not going to be another one if I could help it. “It’s not natural,” Shining spoke with shock behind me. It wasn’t directed at me but I knew that he was at least letting me know what he found out. “Whatever that skylight is, it shouldn’t exist … there was nothing I could see from the air!” “Magic,” I said to him simply with a smirk from behind my mask. He slowly turned his head, eye twitching at me and I couldn’t help but belt out a resounding laugh at having spun their magical bullshit back at them. Oh such a beautiful sight to see. Thankfully he didn’t take it to heart and gave a rather weary laugh in return. Even he was starting to see the ridiculousness in everything. “Still …” Shining said, trailing off. It was obvious he was implying despite everything that this place was anything if not beyond ordinary. I was more than inclined to believe him. “Be careful, there is always traps,” I said before taking my first few strides into the actual cavern instead of sitting on the doorstep of it. “Stay close.” “Don’t have to tell me twice,” Shining muttered from behind me. “This place has been weird enough as it is, I don’t need to find anymore reason to teleport us out of here.” I didn’t reply, instead slowly moving around the outer rim of the cavern, my eyes scanning every meter I could possibly see. It was a scavenger hunt, a most likely fruitless endeavour to find something of use before moving on. Despite everything, there was quite the possibility that this place was nothing more than a nice little cavern situated in the oddest of places. Of course, I was hoping that wasn’t the case and that I wouldn’t have to delve further into these ruins and uncover who knows what type of monsters or … other things. As we made our way around most of the cavern, I noticed very little out of the ordinary, though the ordinary was a natural underground cavern that housed a magical skylight and flora that seemed to grow in such an unlikely place. It was tough to assume anything at this point was normal, but I put away those thoughts and focused on trying to find something artificial in the cavern. “I’m not seeing anything and that skylight is creeping me the buck out,” Shining muttered from behind me, his Kalash still floating in the air but luckily not in my direction. He was a soldier, afterall. “This feels like a trap.” I didn’t want to vocalize it but I was beginning to agree with him. The entire scene just screamed of a whole pack of watchmen coming charging out from nowhere or even Nosalises, and I fucking hoped that they weren’t going to come out of the walls. With that thought in mind, I picked up our pace slightly, not seeing anything worthwhile among the stream and patches of grass and moss. “What was that sound?!” Shining hissed out as he froze behind me, causing me to stop mid-step as well. I waited a few moments in dead silence, expecting to hear something, but nothing came. I wanted to turn on Shining and tell him that now was not the time to joke around but then I heard it. It was a faint groaning sound, one that sounded like a man who was keeled over from spoiled rations. A guttural groan of pain that sounded as though it was right next to me and yet as far away as the first room we entered. There wasn’t a single muscle in my body that didn’t scream at me to get the hell out of that cavern and into the next building as fast as I could. I listened to my instincts and booked it as fast as possible, not bothering to even look around to find the source of that groaning. All I knew was that I was moving away from it by booking it to the next room. The moment that Shining and I breached the hallway of the next building, though doorless, we spun around with weapons pointed at the cavern, waiting for the groaning o start up and produce an actual threat. Yet none came, and it seemed like the mad dash was pointless, but I knew that something more was at work than what we could tell. I sighed in relief before looking at our new hall to explore, my body going from a relaxed state to tensing up once more as my light shone on the walls. The slightly dimmer light illuminated the walls just enough to let me see some rather large carved symbols on the dusty wall. This was the first indication of these buildings having been lived in at all. I brushed them off with my hand carefully, the letters finally coming into view. My mind blanked as I saw them; they were Cyrillic! It wasn’t perfectly Russian, but yet I could make out what most of the words spelt out. “Welcome to the Temple of the … Artyom,” I muttered under my breath as I read, but I couldn’t figure out what three of the words said for they seemed to be nothing but gibberish, not even making up a word from the looks of it. But it was that last one that stole my breath and made my blood run cold. “What are you looking at?” Shining asked from behind me, curious as to why I was staring at the wall. “These words, they are Cyrillic ... I can read what they say … they say my name,” I said as I turned to look at him yet also pointing to the letters carved in the stone. My eyes wide in sheer shock. “What words, I don’t see anything there,” Shining replied hesitantly. I furrowed my brow at him before turning and looking back at the wall; he had to be a fool to not see the words carved into the- They weren’t there. The words I had just read were no longer carved into the wall, the only thing there was a dust covered block of stone. Somehow the words had disappeared and the dust had managed to reappear. I took a step back before looking back down and at Shining before shifting focus to the wall once more, still not seeing the words again. “What the fuck is this place?”